It’s been a rollercoaster week for Willow fans. A few days ago, reports surfaced that the Disney+ sequel to the 1988 fantasy film by Ron Howard and George Lucas was canceled after just one season on the streaming service. But in a lengthy statement, showrunner Jon Kasdan has spoken out about what’s really happening with the show — and it’s more complicated than a simple cancellation. The good news is that there may be many more stories on the way. You can use the full three-part statement here, but essentially Kasdan states that the show won’t go back into production right away. But, he says, it’s “definitely not” that future installments will never be made — with plans for ‘Volume II’ (and apparently more beyond).
“Last week it was decided to release our main cast for other series that may arise for them in the coming year,” he writes. “With all the TV and movies in production around the world, it feels unfair to limit an actor’s availability without knowing clearly when you’ll need them again. It’s further downplayed by the simple reality that the scripts we’ve worked on need just as many actors with whom there’s no such contractual relationship. As Kasdan points out, there is currently an industry-wide slowdown in streaming series production, and Willow will not shoot for the next year. “But here’s what’s equally true: with the enthusiastic and unwavering support of Lucasfilm and Disney, we’ve developed and written what we hope is a mind-meltingly fun, richer, darker and better VOLUME II that builds on the characters and the story of our first eight chapters (The Wyrm survives!)”
There’s a lot more context and explanation in Kasdan’s full statement, but it closes with something even more hopeful for fans. An image of a bookcase, with leather-bound spines showing not only a ‘Part I’ and a ‘Part II’, but also ‘Part III’. “The little movie I love called Willow,” notes Kasdan, “didn’t get a well-deserved sequel for 35 years.” Maybe there’s even more magic in the tank, then…